Turner Prize 2024: has the art world's infamous award lost its power?

As the award returns for its 40th anniversary, critics call for a revamp of 'sorry embarrassment of a prize'

Jasleen Kaur installation at the Turner Prize 2024.
Jasleen Kaur's installation: a red Ford Escort draped in a 'giant crocheted doily'
(Image credit: Getty / Ben Stansall)

Once the "enfant terrible" of the contemporary art world, as the Turner Prize returns to London's Tate Britain for its 40th anniversary it feels "knackered, creaking, and past it", said Laura Freeman in The Times.

"I wish there was some headline-worthy stunt," akin to Tracey Emin's unmade bed or Chris Ofili's elephant dung, but the offering this year is "too flat and inadequate to summon much fury". As it stands, the exhibition feels "utterly moribund": it's time to "revamp this sorry embarrassment of a prize or retire it completely".

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Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.